Hinged motor hanger for cream separators or like machines



Dec. 14, 1948. w, sc c HINGED MOTOR HANGER FOR CREAM SEPARATORS 0R LIKEMACHINES Filed June 19, 1947 INVENTflR.

William M. Sci'rcle ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 14, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE' HINGED MOTOR HANGER FOR CREAM SEPARATORS R LIKE MACHINES WilliamM. Scircle, Scircleville, Ind. Application June 19, 1947, Serial No.755,809

1 This invention relates to cream separators or like machines, and aimsto provide certain new and useful improvements in the mounting of themotor hanger or platform of such a machine.

When starting up a cream separator it is necessary, 'because of the highstarting inertia, to reduce the load on the motor below the fulloperating load in order to avoid damaging the motor or blowing a fusewhen the motor circuit is closed. A simple and practical way of doingthis consists in supporting the motor on a hinged support which ishinged to the body or frame of the separator to permit loosening ortightening of the belt drive connecting the'motor with the separatordrive pulley, thus allowing a degree of slippage between the drivingpulley and the belt, depending upon the tautness of the belt.

An object of the invention is primarily the provision of a novel,practical, and simple means for liftingor lowering the motor about itssupport hinge by means of a simple lever, the raising or lowering ofwhich readily loosens or tightens the belt, as desired, and of means forsecurely maintaining the motor in its new position. An additionalfeature of the invention is that it permits of adjustment for belts ofdifferent sizes.

' The above as well as additional and more detailed objects will becomeapparent in the following description, wherein characters of referencerefer to like-numbered parts in the accompanying drawing. It is to benoted that the drawing is intended for the purpose of illustration onlyand that it is neither desired nor intended to limit the invention toany or all of the specific details of construction shown, exceptinginsofar as they may be deemed essential to the invention.

Referring briefly to the drawing, Fig. 1 is a front elevational view ofa cream separator having the device of this invention applied thereto,showing the motor in normal operating position with the belt in tautcondition.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary front elevational view showing the lever andmotor in raised position and the belt in slack condition.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral Ill indicates the frameor body of a cream separator, the detailed structure of which is notshown. A pulley H is connected by means of a shaft l2 to the separatormechanism, not shown, and is mounted on one side of the frameintermediate its height. A substantially flat platform I3 is pivotallyor hingedly secured by one edge thereof to the frame 10 intermediate theheight of the frame. The platform l3 has an electric motor 4 Claims.(Cl. 74-24215) M of suitable type mounted thereon. An eyelet I5 is rigidwith the frame I!) above the platform 13 and an eyelet I6 is rigid onthe upper portion of the casing of the motor M. A pulley I! is mountedon the shaft l8 of the motor M in alignment with the pulley II andconnected thereto by 'a belt 19.

A lever 20, having saw-tooth serrations or teeth 21 in its upper edge,is pivotally attached by one end to the eyelet I 5, the free end of thelever being formedintojahandle 22. A plurality of spaced longitudinalopenings 23 are provided through the lever 20.

A rod 24 which may be of a uniform diameter substantially-equal to thediameter of the'openings 23, has its extremities bent at right anglesthereto to form a pair'of co-planar parallel extensions 25 and 26. Theextension 26 has a transverse opening 21 therethrough, and an additionalopening 28 having-its axis parallel with the extensions 25 and 26, isprovided through the rod 24 substantially adjacent'but spaced from theextension 25. A normally substantially'rectangular link 29, possessing adegree of resiliency, has its base registering slidably and pivotally inthe opening 28.

The extension 25 registers slidably in any one of the openings 23 of thelever 20 as may be desired by the operator. The link 29 may be engagedbetween any pair of mutually adjacent teeth 2! thus restraining the rod24 from angular movement with respect to the lever 28, that is, givingrigidity to the connection betweenthe rod 24 and the lever 20. The lowerextension 26 registers slidably and rotatably in the eyelet IS onthemotor 23.

A coiled tension spring 30, of a tension sufficient to overcome theweight of the motor and platform assembly, has one extremity anchored inthe base of the eyelet l5, and the other end of the spring is loopedthrough the opening 21 in the rod extension 26. Thus, the platform l3and motor [4, and consequently the lever 20 will be normally urgedupward by the force of the spring 30. Frictional engagement of the link29 between adjacent teeth 2! adjacent the hole 23 in which the rod 24 isengaged, will limit the inward angular movement of the rod 24 withrespect to the lever 20, thus limiting the upward travel of the platforml3 due to urging of the spring 30.

In using the device when starting up a cream separator or like machine,the operator allows the spring 30 to move the motor upward until thebelt is at the desired slackness, thus pivoting the motor hanger orplatform l3 upward; this lies.

is illustrated in Fig. 3. When the desired position has been reached,the rod extension 25 is placed in one of the openings 23 which will givethe approximate angle desired between the rod 24 and the lever 20. Thelink 29 is then snapped over one of the teeth 2| which is at a distanceso that the link will be flexed, as shown in Fig. 2, the tension of thelink thereby preventing the possibility of the link inadvertentlyslipping out of engagement with the tooth against which it The anglebetween the rod 24 and lever 20 is therefore limited with a substantialdegree of rigidity.

After the motor has been started up and the separator has gainedsuflicient speed 'to allow the motor to assume the full load, it becomessafe to tighten the drive belt IS. The operator depresses the lever 20by means of the handle 22, thus allowing the link 29 to becomedisengaged from the tooth 2| and allowing the rod 24 to pivot freelywith relation to the lever 2n. When the desired degree of tension of thebelt has been reached, the operator slips the link over one of the teeth2| in the same manner as previously described. The angle between the rod24 and lever 20 is again limited and upward tension of the springmaintains constant tension of the link 29 and maintains the anglebetween the rod 24 and lever 20 at its limit as set by the linkengagement previously described.

The adjustable feature of the invention makes it possible to usedifferent sizes of belts, as in the case where a belt of greater orsmaller size than the optimum must be used to connect the pulleys H andH. In the case of a large degree of adjustment, the extremity 25 of therod 24 may be placed in any one of the openings 23 in the lever 20 whichwill afford the desired amount of tension of the belt 18.

Obviously, modifications in form and structure may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I claim:

l. In a device of the class described comprising a frame, a platformpivoted along one edge to said frame, a driven pulley rotatably mountedon said frame, a motor mounted on said platform and having a drivingpulley, a belt connecting said pulleys, said :motor having an eyeletthereon, means for :adjustably tightening and loosening said beltcomprising a leven-pivoted atone :end to said frame above said platform,a rod :pivotally connected at one end to said eyelet and at the otherend to said lever, resilient means normally urging said motor andplatform in an upward direction, means partly on said rod and partly onsaid lever for limiting the pivotal movement of said rod with respect tosaid levers 2. The device set forth in claim 1, said means comprising aresilient link slidably and pivotally mounted in said rod, serrations onthe upper edge of said lever, said link having an upwardly extendingdeformed extension adapted to register between said serrations, therebyrestraining said other end of said rod from pivotal motion with respectto said lever due to tension of said resilient means.

3. The device set forth in claim 1, said means comprising a resilientlink slidably and pivotally mounted in said rod, serrations on the upperedge of said lever, said link having an upwardly extending deformedextension adapted to register between said serrations, therebyrestraining said other end of said rod from pivotal motion with respectto said lever due to tension of said resilient means, said lever havinga plurality of spaced longitudinal openings therethrough, said rodhaving its upper end bent at substantially right angles thereto, saidupper end of said rod being selectively .registrab'le in any one of saidopenings, said link being substantially rectangular in outline andhaving said upwardly extending deformed projection forming part of therectangle thereof, said link surrounding said lever and beingselectively registrable between any mutually adjacent pair of saidserrations, thereby restraining said other end of said rod from pivotal.motion with respect to said lever due to tension of said resilientmeans.

4. The device set forth in claim 1, said means comprising a .resilientlink slidably and pivotally mounted in said rod, serrations on the upperedge of said lever, said link having an upwardly extending deformedextension adapted to register between said serrations, therebyrestraining said other end of said rod from pivotal .motion with respectto said lever due to tension of said resilient means, said lever havingaplurality of spaced longitudinal openings therethrough, said rod'havingits upper. end bent .at substantially right angles thereto, said upperend of said rod being selectively registrable in anyone of saidopenings, said link being substantially rectangular in outline andhaving said upwardly extending projection forming part of the rectanglethereof, said link surrounding said lever and being selectivelyregistrable between any mutually adjacent pairo'f said serrations,thereby restraining said-other end of said rod from pivotal motion withrespect to said lever due to tension of said resilient means, saidresilient means comprising a coiled .spring anchored at one end to saidframe above said platform and at the other end to said motor.

WILLIAM M. :SCIRCLE.

No references cited.

